Overview

My assignment is to give an overview of the principal issues raised at this conference on price stability and the contributions of the individual papers to these issues. The principal issues have been the choice between rules and discretion in setting the path for a return to price stability and the preferred type of rule if discretionary actions are avoided. These issues bring to the fore the role of anticipations and the related issue of credibility, since the costs of returning to price stability are almost certainly lower if the return is anticipated and if policy actions are perceived as consistent with the goal of stable prices.